REVIEW: ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD (2017)

“Everything has a price. The great struggle in life, is coming to grips to what that price is.”

All the Money in the World tells the story of the infamous kidnapping of John Paul Getty III in 1973, and his mother, Gail Harris, trying to persuade her ex father-in-law to save her son for a total of 4.5 million dollars.

This film is the lesser known child of Ridley Scott this year. Due to the fact that Scott’s more blockbuster film, Alien: Covenant was also coming out in 2017. But as we all very well know at this point, this film hit mainstream media after Christopher Plummer replaced Kevin Spacey following sexual assault allegations. Within 2 weeks, all evidence of Spacey was wiped away, and for good reason. Plummer comes into this movie with a strong presence and lots of screen time. His performance as John Paul Getty, one of the richest men in the world, is chilling. Plummer is a legend not only through past works, but with pure talent that hits you in the face while watching the film. But as Plummer is undeniably good, it was Michelle Williams that makes this movie.

When I think of strong women in film, I think of characters like Williams’ Gail Harris. Williams’ is often face to face with Getty and his cold demeanor, but she never bends to please him, nor does her heart revolve around money like his does. Her goal in this film is to save her son through any means possible. There were times on screen when Williams comes close to overshadowing Plummer’s talent, but nevertheless, Williams’ character pushes and pushes until she can get what she needs from him.

The story that Scott so amazingly brings to screen, is probably not as well known to people of recent decades. I know it wasn’t exactly familiar to me. And by saying that, I can see Scott’s interpretation tends to fabricate scenes for dramatic purposes. I may be misinformed, but there are times when the scenes look a little too crazy to truly be something that happened in real life. It doesn’t stray too far from the real story and goes just far enough before becoming a bloated mess. All the Money in the World’s, last minute alterations are sometimes noticeable. There was some CGI used to impose Plummer’s face on Spacey’s body. Also, the scenes between Plummer and Mark Wahlberg or Plummer and Williams, does have a few hints of hair changes as compared to the rest of the film.

All the Money in the World marks a huge moment for the victims of sexual assault. Scott’s decision to replace Spacey in this pivotal role will not go unnoticed. This is, in my humble opinion, Scott’s best work in years. By telling a story such as this, with magnetic characters such as these, gives back Scott’s title as one of the industries greatest filmmakers with a thriller that will stay with you for weeks to come.